


All Was Golden (When the Moon Found The Sun)

by 1Temmie_Official1



Series: Eric's ATLA One Shots [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Zuko (Avatar), Brown Haired Yue (Avatar), F/M, First Dates, First Meetings, Fluff, Gen, I'm making that a tag, I'm sorry but I have to project onto zuko, Meet-Cute, One Shot, Rarepair, Trans Zuko (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, and that means making him trans/bi, blink and you miss it trans zuko, but that's only because I couldn't find a relevant place to put it, in this house we also stan giving asian characters brown eyes, in this house we stan bi's in m/f relationships, zuko is bisexual but it isn't explicitly mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26735254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Temmie_Official1/pseuds/1Temmie_Official1
Summary: Zuko was prepared to hate this trip to the Northern Water Tribe, but a certain Princess Yue might change his mind.
Relationships: Yue/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Eric's ATLA One Shots [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1943566
Comments: 14
Kudos: 88





	All Was Golden (When the Moon Found The Sun)

Zuko didn't know what to expect when he went to visit the Northern Water Tribe. Ice? Check. Snow? Check. Cold? Unfortunately, check. Zuko shivered, breathing fire on his hands to warm them. He frowned in frustration. Why would people ever choose to live here? Why was Zuko even here-!

"Nephew." Uncle's voice cut through Zuko's train of thought. Zuko turned to face his uncle- and noticed that they were already at the capital city. _Oh._ It was a stark contrast to the featureless ice and glaciers that he had seen before. Built into the ice and snow was a fortress. That was where people _lived_. He couldn't help the quiet state of awe that he was in, despite the frozen breath on his lips. Someone chuckled, and Zuko glared at his uncle.

"Hey-"

"I'm glad you're enjoying the view, Prince Zuko." Uncle smiled good-naturedly. Zuko huffed and crossed his arms.

"Whatever." He grumbled. They were nearly at the capital anyways. Hopefully, it would be warmer than the ship's deck.

-

Unsurprisingly, it was not warmer in the _city literally made of ice_ than the ship full of firebenders. Despite having layered up for the trip, Zuko was still shivering, his breath causing clouds in the air. Someone in official-looking clothes stepped forward, flanked by- even with the cold biting at his cheeks, they flushed with warmth as he gazed upon the beautiful woman behind the chief. Her brown hair was tied into two braids that cascaded over her fur anorak, the remaining hair in two... Zuko didn't know how to describe those.

"Fire Lord Iroh, Crown Princec-"

"Prince." Zuko interrupted curtly. The Chief nodded at his mistake.

"And Crown Prince Zuko."

"We are delighted to be here with you today, Cheif Arnook, Princess Yue." Uncle Iroh stuck out a hand to shake, true Water Tribe fashion. They shook hands and then bowed to each other, Fire Nation. Zuko tore his attention away from the beautiful girl in front of him and instead focused on... snow. Yeah, there was a lot of snow, that could do.

"Prince Zuko." Zuko snapped his focus to his Uncle. "How about you go with Princess Yue. Let her show you around the Northern Water Tribe." Zuko flushed.

"Uncle-" Zuko hissed.

"I'd be happy to." Yue cut in, her voice light with mirth. Zuko pretended the redness of his cheeks was from the cold.

Uncle smiled knowingly (what he knew, though, Zuko was unsure of). "Go have fun." He subtly bumped (read: shoved) Zuko towards the Princess, who had a smile on her face.

"Hi," Zuko said, staring into her eyes, so brown they were almost black, like the mysterious depths of the ocean floor. They were lighter in the middle, almost like a beam of sunlight had shot through them. Zuko tore his gaze away from her. He just met her! Why was he acting so weird!

"Hi yourself. Where do you want to go first?" She asked, leading him along the paths made of snow. Zuko's mind, which had been rushing with thoughts and buzzing with feelings had suddenly drawn a blank.

"Uh." He inconspicuously darted his eyes to find inspiration from anything. All he could see was ice, water, Yue, and a few random people. "What do you guys do for fun here?" He blurted out. Yue smiled.

"Well, there's ice sledding but that's usually for kids..." Yue brightened. "I know what we can do!" She took his hand- _she took his hand!!!_ \- and dragged him around a corner to see a market.

"Wow," Zuko said, for lack of better words to say. People were talking, there was the smell of packed meats, but there was a crowd around a particular stall.

"Since you haven't been here before, I assume you haven't had Akutaq before," Yue said, still leading him through the market. Zuko shook his head.

"What is that?"

Yue smiled. "It's this mixture of berries, reindeer-seal fat, and snow." At Zuko's hesitant look, Yue continued. "It tastes much better than what it sounds like."

Zuko pondered for a moment, but at Yue's hopeful look, he gave in. "Sure." They walked up to the most crowded stand, mainly children and tired-looking adults were standing in line. Yue frowned. "Sorry, it might take a while to get it." She turned to Zuko, letting their hands fall apart (Zuko ignored the ache that it gave him), and put a small sack of presumably money into his hands. "I'll wait, you go get something for yourself."

"No, it's fine, I'll wait-" Zuko said, trying to give the sack back. Yue shoved it back into his hands.

"It's no problem, it's your first time here. You should enjoy yourself." Zuko hesitated. Yue motioned to the rest of the market. "Seriously, I'll be fine."

"If you say so." Zuko walked away, risking one glance back at her. Yue had been staring at him as well. He blushed and was forcibly reminded of the cold around him. There was a stall that had necklaces and bracelets. _Yue might like something like that_ Zuko thought, and before he knew it, he was looking at the items that were offered. Something caught his eye, a bracelet that was made of flat bones in an alternating pattern of black and white. Upon closer inspection, carved on each bone was a stylized koi fish.

The shopkeeper noticed Zuko's interest. "You want it?"

Zuko nodded. "Yes."

"That'll be 8 coins." Zuko opened up the pouch that Yue had given him, which had about 20 blue bead-things in it. This was Water Tribe money, cool. That seemed reasonable. Zuko now had a slightly less heavy coin sack and one bracelet.

"Prince Zuko!" Yue called two bowls of reddish snow in her arms. Zuko made his way over.

"Is this Akutaq?" He asked. Yue nodded.

"Yeah, did you get anything?" Zuko took the bowl from her hand and showed her the bracelet. "That looks great! Something cool for you to remember the Northern Water Tribe."

Zuko suddenly felt very embarrassed about getting the bracelet. "It's for you, actually." Yue was stunned.

"Really?" Zuko nodded, avoiding her gaze. Yue took it gently from his hands. "I... it's yours, you have it."

Zuko shook his head. "It's yours." 

"Thank you." Yue said. 

They walked side by side, idly observing the other stalls and items. Eating Akutaq. Zuko felt warm inside, happy. A smile formed on his face.

Until a particularly cold breeze made him shiver. Again.

"Are you cold?" Yue asked, brown eyes questioning. Zuko nodded.

"A little, it's not a big deal." Yue frowned, but then brightened with a smile.

"I have the perfect place. You can wear my anorak until we get there." Yue put her coat on Zuko's shoulders before he could protest. It was warm, and it was _Yue's_ and that made him blush even more, and this time it wasn't from the cold.

They walked, Yue surprisingly okay with her lack of fluffy anorak, casually passing a literal temple until they came across a small, circular wooden door. "What's this place?"

"The center of all spiritual energy in the North Pole," Yue said like it was the weather. Zuko's jaw dropped. They both bent down to get through the door, Zuko being especially careful not to get any Akutaq on Yue's anorak.

The difference was immediate. "It's warm," Zuko said in awe. He had been travelling North for days, and to be in a naturally warm place reminded him of home.

Yue smiled knowingly. "There's grass up on that island there, we can sit there and finish the Akutaq."

There were two koi fish in the pond, one black and one white. Just like the bracelet he had gotten Yue. Yue was looking up at the sky, her anorak put to the side.

She looked beautiful.

"What are you thinking about?" Zuko asked, not wanting to be too awkwardly quiet.

Yue hm'd then sighed. "I was just noticing how late it's gotten." She gestured up to the setting sun with one hand.

Zuko felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "I guess we do have to be going back." Yue's expression dropped, disappointment clearly written on her face. Even though it was selfish, Zuko wanted to abandon his duties, if even for a few more minutes. To share those minutes with Yue. "Well, I guess we could watch the sunset."

Yue smiled- oh what would Zuko give to see her smile like that again- "I guess we can."

The arctic sun painted the snow purple. The sky was golden and parts were tinted pink. It was hard to believe that this was the same sun as the Fire Nation. Zuko, taking a risk, put his hand on Yue's. When she didn't move, he made to draw away, heart thudding at his decision.

Yue intertwined her hand with his and everything felt right.

("I didn't know you had a thing for Princess Yue"

"Shut up, Uncle."

"You know, we are considering a political marriage-"

"Shut up!")

**Author's Note:**

> I will go down with this ship.


End file.
